For the English version, click here.
2009R-337
قرار مدينة منيابولس
بأصدار من: هادجس, جوردن, حافستد, رمينجتن, جلدن
قبول دعوة من مدينة النجف الاشرف في العراق للانضمام بإتفاقية التوأمة و دعوة مواطني مدينتي النجف و منيابولس للمشاركة بالنشاطات المذكورة في الاتفاقية ، والموافقة على تطوير الخطط الخاصة بها من قبل منظمة “مشروع المصالحة العراقية-الامريكية” More »
EngageMN, an online project aiming to give voice to Minnesota’s Muslim community, recently published an article about the new Sister City relationship between Minneapolis, USA and Najaf, Iraq. The article also highlights the upcoming delegation visit to Minneapolis from Najaf. To read the article, click here.
After more than a year of moving toward this goal, the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) and our partner in Iraq the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT) are celebrating the beginning of a formal Sister City relationship between Najaf, Iraq and Minneapolis, MN USA. On Friday, July 31st, 2009, the Minneapolis City Council passed a resolution by unanimous vote establishing the two cities as official Sister Cities.
The Iraqi & American Reconciliation Project, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota; Meet Minneapolis: Official Convention and Visitors Association; Twin Cities Peace Campaign: Focus on Iraq; Friends for a NonViolent World; Women Against Military Madness; and others are hosting a delegation of 12-15 Iraqis visiting the Twin Cities in the second half of September. They will be traveling here with Sami Rasouli, Iraqi-American and Muslim Peacemaker Teams Director when he returns for an extended stay.
Coming as peacemakers and visitors, these professors, former city council members, business professionals, NGO directors and members of the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT) are like us, curious, smart and interested in making friends.
For quite a while now, IARP volunteers have been working to establish Minneapolis and Najaf as Sister Cities. What does that mean? A Sister City relationship is a formal agreement signed by the governing bodies of each city committing to long term sharing of cultural, educational, and citizen resources.
I’ll admit, I didn’t know that Minneapolis currently has nine Sister Cities. However, establishing such a formal relationship with an Iraqi city would have a large impact, I think, for a few reasons. Many people, myself included, feel strongly about the past, present and future U.S. relationship with Iraq; beginning a Sister City relationship would be a mutual statement of friendship and cooperation between the people of Najaf and Minneapolis. Looking at how damaged the U.S.-Iraq relationship currently is, the importance of making this statement official and “legitimate” should not be underestimated. It would be a big boost toward our large goal of reconciliation.
People on both “sides” who have doubts about the other would be exposed to exchange programs and events, in the media if not in person. While media coverage can play a large role in building support FOR war and vilifying the “enemy,” it can also be effective in countering such attitudes. And those who actually participate in exchanges will experience Iraqi culture, and some will develop long-lasting friendships.
Currently IARP and its partner in Najaf, the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT), run or are affiliated with a number of exchange programs that make the two cities de facto Sister Cities. These include Letters for Peace, Water for Peace, the Iraqi Art Project, and exchanges between the University of Minnesota and the University of Kufa. This fall, Sami Rasouli, an Iraqi-American who resides in both Minneapolis and Najaf and is Director of MPT, will lead a delegation from Najaf to Minneapolis. The Sister City relationship would highlight these current opportunities for people to connect with their neighbors in Iraq.
Also, importantly, having these programs already in place means that the official relationship would cost Minneapolis very little money.
